Click on the title of the blog post to view the entire entry.
7 Days, 14 to 18 hours each, running on adrenaline and Red Bull.
adidas Art Director and Designer, Kathlene Grebe, worked with us to put together a package for the ENCORE COLLECTION.
You can view the rest of the shoes here: Benjamin Reed Photography
Update:
Sorry…had to remove the images. They will be posted in the near future.
There are a million theories circulating out there on how to bid properly, what questions to ask, should you over or underbid, etc. It can drive you crazy trying to figure out what the wizard is doing behind the curtain. As I mentioned in the previous post, this is an art. It doesn’t make sense why some people receive jobs and others don’t. Many times it’s not based on cost and many times it is. Sometimes you’re wanted because of your style alone and other times you’re competing with 10 other photographers for the same job.
One theory that you can immediately throw out the window is the one you might expect happens most often – that if you do your research, assess the economic conditions and evaluate your competition, your fair bid will be competitive and increase your chances of landing the job. The one flaw in this theory is that it assumes your competition is practicing the same conventional business practices taught to photographers around the country. But as you’ll learn the more you bid, even the most well known business saavy photographers underbid the market for business even while speaking otherwise. At the same time buyers and directors might not be interested in the lowest bid for your potential shoot. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t follow the fundamentals listed above, it means bidding can be a crapshoot. Sometimes you just never know.
Case in point:
An ad agency in the Pacific Northwest called and asked for a bid on producing some web based advertising for a local client. The company wanted the images indefinitely and wanted them exclusively for themselves. After asking the pertinent questions on usage, shooting time, location and mediums I decided to ask for more ‘inside’ information. I wouldn’t recommend doing this with your first bid with a new client but I had a good relationship with the art director and, after all, information is power.
I was able to learn about the other photographers (competition volume) being solicited for bids and the potential range of the bids coming in. I also learned the client was already using a photographer but was unhappy with their work. With this information I could gauge how many photographers I had to compete with for the bid, if the client could afford me to begin with, and also understand that the client was dissatisfied with their current photographer.
I spent hours researching usage fees for exclusive web use for an indefinite time frame and came up with a market competitive number. I then added my shooting fees and prepared my bid for submission. I also had my producer look over the numbers to make sure they made sense and spoke with other photographers to double and triple check the bid. I felt great about it. It was 100% in the bag.
A few days passed and the art director called up. “Nobody got it,” he said. “Not one of the photographers is getting the job, the bids were all too high and they’re sticking with the photographer they’re unhappy with to stay in budget.”
“Really?” I said. “Well, what did the other photographers come in at?”
Again, something you should probably not ask on your first or second bid with a new client, but I needed to fully understand the situation and we have a good relationship.
“You were in the middle,” he said. “(Photographer A) came in at $XXX, (Photographer B) at $XXX…”
This was really interesting for me. Photographer A was relatively well known in the area and often spoke out against photographers undercutting the market. The problem is that Photographer A came in THOUSANDS below the market competitive rate; it was actually the lowest bid in the group by thousands of dollars.
It was good and bad news. The company was unhappy with the work because of a photographer they underpaid due to budgetary constraints. I was happy to hear this because the company learned the “You Get What You Pay For” lesson.
At the same time, I began second guessing my bid. Something that I’ve come to learn is a waste of time. The bid was in the middle, it was competitive, but how was I so far from Photographer A? Have I been drinking the bidding theory Kool-Aid? Why did Photographer A underbid the market so much? It really bothered me. I began asking around if other photographers heard of such drastic underbidding in their businesses without revealing Photographer A’s name.
The best advice I got was don’t sleep on it, you’ll never figure it out. Bidding is an art.
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So what can you do to increase your chances of winning your bid? A good strategy is to understand how many photographers you are bidding against. If you know 10 or more or in the running, you can assume the client wants the lowest price. If they can’t afford you, don’t undervalue yourself. Of course if this happens time and time again, consider cutting costs in your business and adding value for your clients in other areas without lowering your rates.
If there are a few photographers up for the job, they are most likely looking for your style or something close to it. You don’t need to keep your numbers as competitive. Add more value to your bid by offering creative ideas to the process.
Another strategy is to hire a bidding consultant. They do the same for you as agents and you’ll be paying a percentage of your fees to them if you get the job. Consultants are a great strategy especially if you’re new to the bidding game with ad agencies. Make sure you perform your due diligence when finding a consultant. You’ll want someone established and noteworthy. After all, the consultant will be an extension of your business and you don’t want any Joe out there representing your work.
To summarize: Bidding is an art.
In part III we’ll look at what happens when you’re the photographer for the job but your bid isn’t “exactly” what they’re looking for.
The Monk
Note: All information provided here is protected by international copyright laws. Any violation will result in prosecution to the fullest extent of the law.
It’s a great feeling. You’ve been busting your ass with new concepts and putting book together to showcase a new style. Your marketing efforts have paid off and an advertising client calls you to bid for a regional client. It’s a great feeling…and maybe the most important thing to remember as you go through this process is…it’s an art. Just like that judge who swayed the others that a picture is actually really good in one of those photography contests last year when you were saying to yourself, "You’re kidding me right?" Just remember it doesn’t have to make sense, there doesn’t have to be a rhyme or reason, and it can drive you nuts. The good thing is the more practice you have the better you will be.
I’ll try to be as basic and general as possible so you can focus on the concepts. You’ll all learn your own tricks of the trade when the time comes but the concepts will last your career.
Bid or Estimate?
An Estimate and Bid are different beasts. Estimates are the expenses, including your shooting fee, to produce a shoot. They are accompanied with the invoices and receipts you collected to produce the campaign and the client pays these expenses at the end of the production. This price changes depending on the costs incurred on the production.
On the other hand, a Bid is your final price up front. The expenses and shooting fees you give the art buyer and final’s final. If you spend over your bid amount, you eat the cost. As a businessperson, bids are much better for you to execute. They provide more room for you to make a profit and usually don’t require you to provide receipts as back-up. If you negotiate with stylists, for example, $50 per day and you bid $150 for stylists, you made $100.
Bottom line: Make sure you clarify what your client needs before you begin.
Fees + Licensing + Expenses = Execution Cost (FLEE)
Your next step is to ask a plethora of questions of your client and of yourself. Ask everything you can. The more you ask the better prepared you will be. The goal here is to fill in the FLEE equation. FLEE is the structure of your bid as you will present it to the client.
Fees – What do you as a photographer want to make for the shoot? What is your creative value for the time you’re needed? The right questions to ask here are: How many days is the shoot for? Where is it located? What is your competition charging? What is the current state of the economy?
Licensing – You are to be compensated for where your pictures are to be used. Think of eye volume here. The more eyes see your image, the more valuable it is to the client. You need to be compensated for that. How long does the client want to use the image? 1 year is much cheaper than 5 years. In what mediums? Print, web, brochure, point of purchase? In what locations? Local, state, regional, national global? Do they want exclusive rights? Meaning, do they want to be the only entity that can use them? That’s worth more to you. You can’t sell your pictures to stock or another company if your client has exclusive rights. They need to compensate you for that as well.
Expenses – What will it cost you to produce the shoot? How much will your crew cost for the number of days…assistants, stylists, wardrobe specialists props, rentals, models, insurance, studio time, meals, etc. Break everything out, I mean EVERYTHING. Don’t skimp out on costs. You’re a businessperson. Unless you want to eat the costs, bid them out.
Execution Costs – The other side of the equation. What all of the above equals. Don’t forget to add sales tax depending on your state of operation.
You have your skeleton after completing the FLEE equation. Now you have to organize it in a professional way with your logo with everything broken down. You also need to include contract terms. When does the client need to pay you? How much advance do they need to pay you? What happens if they don’t pay you on time? What happens if weather prohibits the shoot? All of these things need to be spelled out in your contractual invoice.
To ease your pain throwing all of this together I recommend two software packages that are well worth the investment. fotoQuote by Cradoc fotoSoftware and Blinkbid. fotoQuote will help you determine licensing fees for usage. Blinkbid will help you prepare your bids and invoices to send to clients. Both are great tools and will help you understand the process in a more professional manner. Cradoc also offers fotoBiz which is similar to Blinkbid and can be purchases in tandem with fotoQuote. I prefer Blinkbid but it’s your call. I don’t have any connection to these companies but love their products.
Some things to note:
Don’t try to mess with Art Buyers. They will most likely know more than you ever will about market values and trends. They deal with numbers on a regular basis and if you try to sneak something by it could harm you in the future. You want to foster the best relationships possible so avoid any headaches.
The Cost Specialist. A relatively new trend with agencies is negotiating with a "cost specialist". It used to be all price negotiations were done with the Art Buyer. You might go back and forth on the cost of an extra stylist for example and settle on something. More and more agencies are adding in another layer of cost scrutiny. After the Art Buyer, a cost specialist might step in and scrutinize something the Art Buyer left out. This can be over something as little as $50 and you might spend hours trying to stand your ground for that money. It’s just something else to be aware of. If you’ve done your research on market prices you’ll be better prepared to argue your case.
Part II will have more about the behind the scenes nature of bidding from a photographer’s perspective and provide an example or two on real world bidding situations.
The Monk
Note: All information provided here is protected by international copyright laws. Any violation will result in prosecution to the fullest extent of the law.
There’s an interesting post over at strobist.com about taking money out of the equation when building a portfolio. There’s a range of feedback in the comments from “inspirational” to “damaging.” Strobist isn’t the first to mention this style of thinking as others have stressed the idea of “giving more than you receive” to be downright smart business.
Have a read.
My thoughts…
I don’t think David is emphasizing the right thing. It’s how you frame the debate and I think he did it wrong…starting with the headline.
If you read the responses, most of them seem to come from the standpoint of photographers who agree with the idea…not business peope who understand the economics of doing “Free” work. What sense does that make?
That’s how a photographer thinks.
A businessman says, what is the cost/benefit of doing this?
One of the local guys who owns the fashion market here struggled for years to make it. Every year he shoots a fashion spread for a local monthly magazine. They pay about $200 a day. This guy makes a good amount of money each year, why would he take the money for local monthly? He loses or breaks even on the shoot.
He does it because the benefit outweighs the cost. He knows that all the ad execs read the magazine so they get to see his work. Earlier in the year he was called to shoot Tiger Woods in the same style he shoots the fashion spread. They saw his work in the local magazine. That’s good marketing and good business sense. So did he really loose money on it?
So that’s a distinction he needs to make more clear. Now we have people talking about free. It’s not free, it’s good marketing. The benefit outweighs the cost. If it doesn’t…like shooting a pie contest for the New York Times for $50, then don’t do it.
David needs to emphasize thinking like a business person…calling yourself one is different than calling yourself a photographer.
Commercial photography consultant Leslie Burns-Dell’Acqua has a podcast called Creative Lube (listed on iTunes) that talks about the most important aspects of marketing and running a photography business.
Also, her site, has a wealth of information, manuals on marketing, and her “Super Premium Blog” is worth reading.
Dell’Acqua is a very trusted name in the business, and her straightforward advice is golden for photographers looking for some direction.
The Small Business Podcast Series has an interesting piece on how to handle your small business in this economy. It’s a short ten minute clip worth a listen as it applies to your photography business. It covers concise ideas about marketing, expense planning, and tracking customers. Concepts we talk about quite a bit here on this blog. If anything, it will get you thinking about the big picture of your photography business.
“Right now is the best time to plan…there’s a lot of financial implications when the economy gets tighter, especially for small businesses…your cash flow might be impacted because the people that you’re serving might be paying you a little bit slower than you’re used to. Because of this, you might need to extend your credit line or get a credit line. What you don’t want to do is find that out at the end of the month when you’re going to miss payroll. If you sit down and take some time to plan…than you can be ready ahead of time and perhaps layoff people.”
The podcast is put out by SBTV, a non-profit that offers free advice to small business owners.
The Monk.
The Picture Licensing Universal System (PLUS) Coalition:
“is an international non-profit initiative on a mission to simplify and facilitate the communication and management of image rights.”
If you haven’t already seen it, check it out (www.useplus.com)
After specifying licensing details with a client, PLUS lets you generate a machine-readable license and embed it (via XMP) into the image file.
The benefits for photographers:
• PLUS attempts to standardize licensing terms in contracts, eliminating confusion between you and clients.
• PLUS licenses are written in the PLUS code, which can then be translated into the native language of the client. Useful for images that get used worldwide.
• The license details travel with the images. Allows clients to view the details of the image license and “discourages innocent infringement” of copyright.
The site says it enables you to track an image and how it being used, but I haven’t found out how yet.
With big names involved in the collaboration (Adobe, IPTC, Getty, Jupiter, Photoserve, etc.), it’s sure to be the standard.
Whether we like it or not…still and video are starting to look more like a package our clients might need in the future.
Cult camcorder manufacturer Red finally took the wraps off a new product it had been teasing on its website and in online forums for weeks — a multi-purpose hybrid camcorder/digital SLR that lets the user create their own custom imaging device based around Red’s sensors…
…The professional-level Epic which would shoot at up to 5K resolution; and Scarlet, a more prosumer camcorder that would shoot in 3K…
More Here.
Change or Die.
Here’s an interesting tidbit about some changes in the industry:
Organizers say while the focus of the show is still on the professionals, each year there’s more evidence that recent technological advancements seem to be shrinking the gap between what a pro and amateur can create…
…Another trend that continues to grow and grow is putting your photos on your, or a loved one’s, personal possessions, like puzzles, blankets, prisms, and even jewelry.
How will you define yourself in this new marketplace?
You wrote a solid business plan and showed it around to some friends and colleagues and you have your bases covered. Now you’re ready to construct the most important document you will ever write for your business.
Time and time again you’ll hear established pros tell you it’s not how good your photography is, but it’s how strong your marketing practices and business acumen are. There are excellent photographers out there who struggle making it and not so great photographers doing very well. Use this as a cursory guide on how to think about promoting yourself.
There is no right or wrong way to make a marketing plan but there is a right way to think practically about the brand you want to project and how to go about getting noticed.
In the simplest terms, your marketing plan helps you identify your target clients, understand what problems they have, how you communicate your ability to solve their problems and how you maintain your relationship with your clients.
Follow this outline to help you develop your plan:
1. Set business goals – If you’ve already made you business plan, this is a simple copy and paste line. You want to be specific in your objectives. Explain what you want to accomplish in the next three years.
2. Identify market segments – Many of you (will) work in different areas of photography, editorial, corporate, weddings, etc. These areas represent different slices of the photography pie. Within each you might have more segmentation. Law Firms and Food Companies might make up two distinct markets you target in the corporate segment.The more refined you make your market segments, the better off you’ll be at targeting and marketing to them. For each segment you shoot for, or want to shoot for list the following:
All of this information is publicly available except if the company is private. But you should be able to find 90% of the information above. The goal here is to find commonalities among customers in your target markets. You’ll learn more about the industry and be able to relate to them better if you understand the general dynamics of your customers. When you have your segments distinguished you can also figure out if your target markets are large enough to support your business.
Once you determine your segments, take note of what’s available to you in your target area and start making a list of these potential clients and how you can solve problems for them, i.e. help them create some promotional materials by taking portraits or creating images that will go on their promotional materials. Break these segments up into percentages on your list and even better if you can find out how much money they bring in.
This information is usually publicly available except for the ad agencies because they operate privately. For example, magazines make up 10% of your market, Non-Profits 5%, etc.
3. Determine Segment Needs – What will your market segments need and how can you provide this to them? You can find this by studying the promotional materials they distribute. Their customers should be in your pictures. Also try to quantify the need. For example, if you want to shoot advertisements research industry publications like Ad Age and you’ll find stuff like this: “According to the 2/11/08 issue of Ad Age, Eighty-four percent of agencies surveyed predicted growth of advertising revenues of 8% to 10% in 2008.” That’s great information to include in your plan because it shows you understand where your industry is going. If you belong to a public library, they can provide you access to these materials online through EBSCO Host.
4. Establish a core brand to convey to your segments – Your customers don’t care about you. They care about themselves. How you can help them achieve their desired results? By understanding what they want. You can do this by branding yourself to sell more than photography services. Insurance companies don’t sell policies, they sell piece of mind. Apple doesn’t sell products, it sells culture, Doctors don’t sell medicine, they sell relief. You’re not selling your skills; you’re selling a style, a solution, a relationship.
Your brand is how you want to project yourself to the world. What are you going to sell in addition to the same set of photography skills everybody else has? What message tells your audience your brand? As part of developing your brand, write down this message and stay on it. It should always be in the back of your head…ask yourself, does this fit my brand message?
There’s an argument out there on whether it’s better to specialize or become a Jack-of-all-Trades (JAT). In my opinion, specialization makes it easier for you to brand yourself and convey a clear message. You want to be the photographer someone thinks of when they need to solve a specific problem. “We need someone who can shoot sports in a retro style.” “We need someone who can shoot food with energy behind it.”
For many photographers the brand is reflected in the style alone, but the point is to develop that style of shooting and become an expert in it…at least with respect to how you project yourself to the market. With so many photographers out there doing many different things, you’ll be remembered better if your name is associated with a certain style. Here are two photographers who I think do this very well:
Lo-Fi photographer David Emmite & Surrealist Dave Hill. You’ll see each of these photographers has a core message in their promotion.
When you decided how you want to convey yourself (brand yourself), you’ll need to write down what message gets that out there and write it down. Write it down so you’ll remember it and return to it over and over again.
5. Establish a marketing budget – There’s really no rule of thumb here, but you have to spend money to make it. I’ve heard of photographers spending anywhere from 5% – 30% of their gross income on marketing. You’ll be testing a lot of different strategies to determine which has the best benefit with the lowest cost for your business so adjust your marketing budget based on what you have to spend based on your priorities. If you’re just starting out, you might spend a little more than a seasoned photographer.
6. Revisit the past - List what you did last year and how will you change it based on what worked and what didn’t. Simple step, but make sure you understand why something didn’t work. Marketing works if you target the right audience with the right strategies.
7. List marketing objectives – What outcomes do you want to achieve by when? List at least three objectives for each of your segments. For example, I want to increase my sales by $10,000 in my corporate portraits and grow my number of clients by 2 this year.
Each objective should have at least one strategy of how you will achieve the objective. For example, you want to grow your editorial business by promoting to the 5 best fashion magazines by spending $X per company on advertising. Another example might be, I want to establish 5 new solid agency contacts in the first quarter of next year by attending networking events and showing my book to these 15 agencies. I will also send out promotional mailers on this schedule.
Market Segment A
Objective 1; Strategy 1; Deadline
Objective 2; Strategy 1; Deadline
Objective 3; Strategy 1; Deadline
Market Segment B
Objective 1; Strategy 1; Deadline
Objective 2; Strategy 1; Deadline
Objective 3; Strategy 1; Deadline
8. The Timeline – Finally, create a calendar to track your progress. Use your outline from the previous step and write in your dates of completion to keep yourself on schedule. This will also be helpful when you plan out future years. The timeline also acts as a diary. Write down what worked, what didn’t and why.
For a visual guide and a slightly different approach, you can visit this outline I also want to regurgitate some points I made in getting your work noticed.
I want to re-emphisize the importance of face to face time, networking and referrals.
Focus your energies here. These will be keys to your success in your business future. Here are some more ideas from below:
The Monk
